Questions tagged [first-person-pronouns]
一人称代名詞. The many Japanese words that correspond to English "I" and "me" but differ in nuances such as formality, respect, intimacy, etc.
50
questions
1
vote
1
answer
134
views
Why is "お前" and "あたし" used in Spirited Away?
I was watching the animated film by Hayao Miyazaki named "Spirited Away" in Japanese (I'm still a beginner) and I noticed that Yubaba and Zeniba use "お前" as second person singular. ...
- 115
1
vote
1
answer
254
views
What's the Etymology for using うち to mean "I"?
As some know, うち is another way to say "I" in Japanese, my tutor (and others) saying it's mostly used by younger women. My question is...how did this come to be? Because, I can't help but ...
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
「わし」 used by young males in Western Japan
I noticed something very interesting in the adaptations of the novel 『バッテリー』 across media forms. For context, the story is set in a fictional city in 岡山県. The protagonist 原田巧 is described to have been ...
- 11.4k
0
votes
0
answers
110
views
Connotation of あっし as a first-person pronoun
あっし is said by imabi to be a 1. person pronoun, derived ultimately from あたし・わたし and from the "working class dialect of Tokyo Bay" (which presumably refers to 下町言葉). Wiktionary claims it to ...
- 381
1
vote
1
answer
275
views
"Strategies" to speak in 1st, 2nd or 3rd person without pronouns
My level of Japanese is still very basic. So sorry if I what I'm saying doesn't make sense.
As I understand it, Japanese do not like the usage of pronouns to express if a sentence's subject or direct ...
- 131
3
votes
1
answer
362
views
The use of 僕 by office employees
In the famous 1952 film 生きる (Ikiru), the government-office employees frequently use 僕 to refer to themselves (even the female character used it). Based on this understanding of 僕, 僕 is basically a ...
- 1,828
1
vote
1
answer
173
views
How much "weight" do personal pronouns have?
I always feel like I have an identity crisis when I try to say "I" in Japanese.
After reading so much about differences between the various pronouns I've gotten the impression that whatever ...
- 913
2
votes
0
answers
138
views
Confusing interchangeability of 汝 and 己
In most cases, 汝 is the formal/archaic second person pronoun, "you/thou", and 己 is a humble and archaic first-person pronoun or a way to refer to oneself.
However, confusingly, in many ...
- 725
6
votes
1
answer
618
views
How do fathers say "I" when talking to their children in Japanese?
In this thread, I asked about how parents say "I" when talking to their children. I want to refine that question to specifically how fathers refer to themselves. My understanding is that fathers ...
- 11.5k
1
vote
1
answer
213
views
Why is Lucoa using 僕 when referring to herself?
I was re-watching Dragon Maid and was wondering why Lucoa is using 僕 even though she's female.
Lucoa: 僕にも演出やらせて、やらせて!
- 243
3
votes
1
answer
568
views
How commonly is てめぇ used as a synonym for 自分?
The following exchange happens in One Piece:
ブルック: い...行くんですか！？サンジさん！！！
サンジ: 行かいでかてめぇの問題だ！！男サンジやらねばならぬ！！！
I found the sentence kind of baffling at first because as far as I know 行かいでか is Edo ...
- 291
2
votes
2
answers
617
views
What is the proper way to use 余[よ] as a personal pronoun?
Whenever I play Fate/Grand Order, one thing I often hear when I use that game's version of Nero Claudius is her using 余 when referring to herself. Looking it up shows me that this particular pronoun ...
- 1,608
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Should 私の be omitted?
I have the following sentence on my Japanese LinkedIn page:
私 の 目的 は 主導 と 代表的 な 執行 と 技術革新 通じて 例外的 な 質 を 生むて います。
It is meant to mirror my English mission statement:
"My mission is to deliver ...
- 267
0
votes
1
answer
219
views
Formal, feminine first-person pronoun
よろしくお願いします。 I am writing a scene (in English, with occasional
Japanese for flavor and difficult-to-translate terms) where a rather
androgynous woman is in a Tokyo department store, speaking with a ...
- 25
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
When do you use your own name to refer to yourself?
I searched for "referring to yourself in third person" and other similar phrases , but found only these: Q1, Q2. All searches in google also lead to similar discussions.
But I already know that ...
- 458
4
votes
2
answers
343
views
Pronoun collocations
I have embarked on a project of translating a novel I am writing into Japanese in parallel with writing it, and one of the hardest parts for me (in contemplation, I haven't really gotten that far) is ...
- 1,075
4
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is there a casual gender-neutral first-person pronoun?
I know that 私, while being used by both men and women, is relatively formal or at least polite and so wouldn't necessarily be used when talking to a close friend, etc. On the other hand, 俺、僕、and あたし ...
- 173
2
votes
1
answer
259
views
Use of personal pronouns when talking to different "ranked" people. (In the same conversation)
First time posting here.
I have a question that have been bothering me for quite a while.
I wonder how to use the personal pronouns (僕/俺 & お前/きみ/あなた) in a conversation with different "ranked" ...
- 74
1
vote
1
answer
150
views
How would one address oneself when speaking to royalty?
Apart from avoiding using personal pronouns, when speaking to royalty, would one just use watashi, like in the following example:
Time: 05:32 - 05:50
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/...
- 2,686
3
votes
2
answers
394
views
Usage of 私｛わたし｝ in Informal Situations
I know Japanese males tend to use 俺｛おれ｝/僕｛ぼく｝ in informal contexts. Is it common to use 私｛わたし｝ too or it makes one sounds overly stiff and aloof?
Edit: What about 自分｛じぶん｝?
- 514
7
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How did わし etc. become stereotypical "old people" pronouns
After reading this answer about the pronoun あちし, I became curious about how certain pronouns came to be associated with older people. As I see it, there are four main possibilities:
People just ...
- 528
2
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What does "オレ" in Pokemon Opening song mean?
The lyric says:
オレはこいつと 旅に出る
I wonder what オレ means. Is it a different way to write: "俺"?
- 29
4
votes
1
answer
541
views
Pronoun あちし: real or fiction
I've seen in manga あちし, which means "I". However, in every dictionary I've looked at, it doesn't exist. So is this a fictional pronoun?
- 887
3
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Difference between "私達" and "われわれ" when used as possessive pronouns?
When you are talking to a 3rd person, fundamentally
(1) それは、私達の出来あげたものです。
(2) それは、われわれの出来あげたものです。
mean:
That is something that we all created together.
With regard to using them as first ...
- 1,146
10
votes
2
answers
363
views
Change in self-address for emphasis or to express frustration or dissatisfaction
Building on from this comment,
It is possible that in English, a mother may opt to refer to herself in the third person: using "Your mother" instead of "I" to create emphasis.
It is observed from ...
Flaw♦
- 19.8k
2
votes
1
answer
776
views
僕 in 敬語 - is it possible?
With 丁寧語, it's very possible - 僕が行きます is a perfectly normal thing to say. But what of 僕が参ります? Would that sound odd? 私が参ります would be more normal, I think, but is 僕が参ります possible at all?
- 11k
4
votes
1
answer
262
views
Generic title for children redux & referring to self in the context of children
Continuing from this question
1. Generic title for children redux
Consider the following cases for each situation where a person speaks to two children of different age:
How are the following ...
Flaw♦
- 19.8k
4
votes
1
answer
946
views
How common/formal is あたくし?
A while ago, I discovered that あたし has a more-formal variant: あたくし
This is obviously very similar to the relationship between わたし and わたくし. However, there are a couple of details that I'm not too ...
- 758
3
votes
2
answers
994
views
Can 「奴」 be used to refer to a female?
Is the word 「奴」/「やつ」 (yatsu) ever used to refer to another female, or to refer to oneself if one is female? Or is it only used to refer to a male?
Answers to this question touched on the word 「奴」, ...
- 2,153
0
votes
0
answers
122
views
How to do plurals? [duplicate]
I've seen there are two ways of saying we and pluralizing words using:
ら、たち
But I can't see the difference and I'm not sure if it can be used with all the pronouns. Are there other forms of ...
- 511
5
votes
3
answers
864
views
Which personal pronouns and sentence ending particles would an old man use?
I'm somewhat informed on gendered speech in Japanese, however, I have also heard that age may play a part in which pronouns and sentence ending particles you use and can get away with. For instance, a ...
- 617
2
votes
1
answer
400
views
The plural 等 in おいら, おら
Why do the singular first person pronouns 俺{おい}等{ら} and 俺{お}等{ら} involve the plural affix 等?
user458
5
votes
2
answers
819
views
What rules should be followed when saying "we"?
I know that, in Japanese, you can say X達【たち】 or Xら (where X is a first person pronoun) to say we.
However, what rules should be followed for choosing that "X". Can I use whatever I would use to refer ...
- 3,397
16
votes
2
answers
883
views
Was 俺 ever gender-neutral?
I've heard elderly women in Japan referring to themselves using 俺. This leads me to believe that the usage has changed overtime to become only used by males. Did 俺 used to be gender-neutral?
- 10.9k
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself using your name, rather than 私 (or others)?
I have heard—though not often—people refer to themselves using their first name, not by using a pronoun for "I." Does this have special connotation in Japanese? Nothing about the usage (to me) seemed ...
user1316
7
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Why is 自分 used instead of 私?
For example:
自分の名前が呼ばれたとき、私は自分の耳を疑った。I couldn't believe my ears when I heard my name called.
Would it be appropriate if I said 私? When is it appropriate to use 自分? What is the difference?
- 529
11
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Difference between 自分 and 自分自身 and how to reflect their difference in English
Consider:
自分について書きたいことがあります。 = There are times that I want to write about myself (lit: things concerning me)
自分自身について書きたいことがあります。
What is their difference?
I think the second sentence has more ...
- 10.3k
4
votes
1
answer
335
views
Finding the subject in Japanese. 自分だったら、これを大きくなってから見たら感動するだろうな
This is from the comments on this youtube page where an infant is cuddling with a bemused cat.
The commentator is writing on how cute the scene is. I am having trouble figuring out some of the ...
- 10.3k
3
votes
0
answers
3k
views
私 (watashi) vs 僕 (boku) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicates:
Is it ok for non-japanese to refer to themselves as 僕（ぼく） and if not why?
How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
How commonly are "あたし" (atashi) or &...
- 2,193
6
votes
1
answer
543
views
Is it true that only girls use うち to refer to themselves?
Is it true that only girls will use うち to refer to themselves?
So when a guy say うち he is referring to his in-group / company / family, and not referring to himself, right?
- 11.8k
6
votes
3
answers
22k
views
Speaking in the third person
Many things that seem normal in English look arrogant in Japanese. I think I found a special case where the reverse is true. In Japanese is it normal to speak in the third person when referring to ...
- 5,035
5
votes
1
answer
381
views
What is the nuance of この + [first person pronoun]?
For example, from the song Fare Well by L'Arc~en~Ciel:
あなたは いつまでも この僕のこと 愛してくれたのかな
and countless examples from manga, like:
だが このオレは 死なん...
こんどは このオレが きさまを 滅ぼす
このオレに 勝てるわけがない
My guess is that it ...
- 2,104
8
votes
4
answers
526
views
Giving something to oneself
what is the theory that 僕は自分にプレゼントをあげる is right but not 僕は自分にプレゼントをくれる ?
Btw I'm also curious if these sentences are equally valid:
A) 僕は自身にプレゼントをあげる
B) 僕は自分自身にプレゼントをある
C) ボブはボブにプレゼントを[あげる/くれる?]
...
- 11.8k
16
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Just how rude is 「俺{おれ}」?
Statistics seem to show that (for young males, anyway) 俺{おれ} is beginning to be used more often than 僕{ぼく} to refer to oneself. I have read that 俺 is somewhat rude.
There are certain situations, of ...
- 1,745
26
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech
Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!
I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:
マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
...
- 8,989
14
votes
3
answers
811
views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself by これ?
I have occasionally heard and read instances, where a person has referred to themselves as これ. My Japanese dictionary also lists "Me, I." as a definition of これ.
Now, this obviously isn't used as ...
- 2,418
7
votes
3
answers
684
views
Is there a dialect where older men refer to themselves as あたし?
I remember reading that there is a dialect in which older men refer to themselves as あたし. It didn't have a feminine connotation, it may have even been a bit rough.
I think I read it on Wikipedia, but ...
- 5,285
13
votes
4
answers
4k
views
How commonly are "あたし" or "[僕]{ぼく}" used?
My friend and I are learning Japanese. For a time, all we knew was 私, but after we learned more words, she started to use あたし when referring to herself, and I began using 僕. What I'm wondering is, how ...
- 1,745
31
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is it ok for non-japanese to refer to themselves as 僕{ぼく} and if not why?
Grammatically speaking it shouldn't be an issue, but I have heard from some people that a non-japanese using 僕{ぼく} sounds really weird. Has anyone else heard this? And if so, is there a reason?
- 6,971
28
votes
6
answers
8k
views
How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
I've always had trouble choosing which first person pronoun to use - 私 (watashi), 僕 (boku), or 俺 (おれ). What kind of factors should I keep in mind when choosing between these? Is it common to vary one'...
- 3,189